US Senator Ed Markey reads Musk to the Levites over the Twitter chaos – Musk reacted immediately

New Twitter owner Elon Musk received a stark warning from an influential US senator after the chaos surrounding fake accounts that looked deceptively real. ‘Get your affairs in order. Or Congress will,” Democrat Ed Markey wrote on Twitter on Sunday after an oral exchange with Musk.

The cause of the dispute was an experiment by the Washington Post. A newspaper reporter managed to create a fake account for the senator, which was provided with a verification check mark.

US Senator Ed Markey vs. Elon Musk

This has been made possible by the new procedure, whereby the verification boards previously awarded to celebrities, politicians and companies after an investigation will be given to all users who pay eight dollars a month as a subscription fee. There is no identity check. The checkmark will look the same in both cases. Only when you click on it does an explanatory text appear, whether the account got the check mark because of its importance – or because the user paid for it.

Controversy over fake accounts

Musk had said that authentication through payment services and app platforms should protect against abuse of the new system, he said. But it didn’t stop many users from spending $8 to set up fake celebrities and business accounts with verification checks.

It hit sports stars, the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, the fruit specialist Chiquita, but also Tesla and Elon Musk.

Twitter has suspended the subscription feature for the weekend. It is not expected to be reactivated until the end of the week, Musk wrote on Twitter. However, the check marks already assigned in this way will still be displayed.

The Washington Post created a fake account for Markey with a subscription payment, which included a verification check, while the senator had long had official profiles on the service. Worse, at least the smartphone app said the fake account had been verified because of its importance. It was indistinguishable from real.

Markey then accused Musk of making Twitter a “social media wild west” by making “quick and random” changes to the platform. “This is unacceptable,” Markey wrote, demanding an explanation from Musk about the verification system.

Musk fights criticism

Musk responded defiantly on Twitter: “Maybe it’s because her real account comes across as a parody?” Markey then reminded him that Twitter had to make commitments to the powerful consumer protection agency FTC and that Musk-led electric car maker Tesla was being investigated by the NHTSA for fatalities.

The Senate can call corporate bosses for hearings. After the recent parliamentary elections, it is already foreseeable that the Democrats will retain control of the Congress room.

(sda/awp/dpa)